An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.

Stories of Ansalon from the view of Marian.

A little gully dwarf runs by and says 'Wordwrap is at 65. You change? Off 65 80.'
The gully continues 'Eyes hurt? Turn Color OFF!! (regular story dates)

Astinus says 'Enter the main library here to view only the author list.'
Astinus gently places a pamphlet on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Marian' scribed in light green ink.

Author:    Marian         
Date:      Mon Mar 26 18:01:50 2007
Subject     Marian background

Marian Fissure Foot, is what her name is. Standing only 3 1/2
feet tall, she
was a little shorter than her friends and family, but that didn't
bother.  Her
parents, Fufin and Ega, raised Marian to stand tall in her stocky
furry
figure.  Marian was an only child, and frequently rested her
furry feet in the
crystal clear mountain streams while looking up at the sky.  She
also enjoyed
collecting mushrooms, berries and mosses as she hummed long
forgotten dwarven
melodies.

"I don't know why that child always collects mushrooms, mosses
and algaes!"
father Fufin exclaims. "And why doesn't she show more interest in
our mining
investments?" He mutters.  Eega politely says, "Perhaps it's not
her destiny. 
You know that she's been drawn to magical spells ever since that
strange
wizard came to town."  Fufin grumbles and scratches his rough
furry neck."Well
what are we going to do about her? I certainly don't want her
learning magic
from any wandering wizard!"


Around this time, Marian quietly pads into the house and listens
keenly to her
parents. "Don't think you can hide over there Marian, come over
here now."
says father Fufin.  Marian pokes her head over the kitchen
cauldron and says
"Yes, dad?"

That's when Marian Fissure Foot, the short furry mountain dwarf,
was told that
it was time for her to leave her family and travel to a far away
land in
search of magical education.  "Please be careful dear, and stay
away from
those silly hill dwarves!", Eega says to Marian.  She should be
sad, and is
surprised that she isn't and even wants to laugh.  "Don't worry
about me, I
will be okay." says Marian as she packs her few belongings into a
small green
sanitation sack.  "And whatever you do, stay away from those
crazy wizards, I
just don't trust them." says Fufin.  Marian listens to her father
and mother
intently, nods her head and gives them both a big burly hug.  "I
hope to
return and make you proud of me, father." says Marian.  It had
always been
hard for Marian to impress her father, a strong dwarf, and a
proud owner of a
mine, passed down from generation to generation in his family.

Marian waves goodbye one last time and turns her back on the only
family and
home she has ever known.  She begins her adventure and plods her
furry feet
upon a well worn path in the woods, not quite sure where she will
end up. 
Many days pass and Marian's furry feet are getting so calloused
that she can
walk on the sharpest of rocks with ease.  "How long am I going to
have to eat
moss?  I'm so sick of moss!" Marian says to herself.  She also
wonders if she
will ever find enlightenment.

Marian is sitting under a tall pine tree and puts some more of
the squishy
moss in her mouth.  "Blllleeeech!", Marian pukes all over the
forest floor and
suddenly feels strange and woozy. "What's happening to me?" she
moans and
falls face first to the ground.  Suddenly a crack opened out of
the hard
granite earth, close to where her dirty feet are sprawled. The
next thing that
Marian was aware of was that she was now holding on for dear life
to the ledge
of a deep granite fissure. Mist and sulfur is bellowing out from
below and
Marian could only wonder what was down there.  Marian giggles
even though she
is terribly afriad.  The steam is tickling the fur on her toes
and making it
almost torture.  Marian scrambles to get out of the ever widening
fissure and
almost does, but then a large steel glove grabs both of her feet
and begins to
pull her down into the steaming pit.  Marian started to feel like
she was
floating and skinking at the same time. She looked down and sure
enough a
large steel gloved hand was wrapped around her silly dwarven
feet.  And
nothing else could be seen. A crackly dry voice surrounds Marian
and speaks,
"DO NOT BE AFRAID, THIS IS NOT THE TIME. DO YOU UNDERSTAND,
MARIAN?"  Marian
could only nod. GO FIND 7KINGDOMS AND HOLY ORDER OF THE STARS."
and Marian
obeyed.

Author:    Marian         
Date:      Fri Mar 30 23:32:49 2007
Subject     Marian update

"What am I going to do now!?" Marian is sunburnt, blistered
and staring at a vast open ocean.  Really not
knowing if she could swim or not, Marian chuckles and
heads in to the cold water.  Marian heads back to shore
and catches miserable cold same evening.  Sitting
alone next to the deafening waves she hums.

Hunger setting in, Marian leans back and eats more squishy moss.
Resting quietly on back she sleeps.  Small skittery things
are moving around in dark.  No sleep again.
Little salty brine shrimp scampers up her leg.
"Ha! Gotcha this time!" The shrimp is crunchy.
Days and nights pass nothing but wall of ocean.

It appears to be heading in her direction.

Marian tries again to swim so she can reach the boat.
"Haha!" is all she hears before she's yanked up by her furry neck
and thrown into the back of a small dinghy.  The next
thing Marian was aware of, was that she was
alone in the pit of a sea ship.  Marian pukes and tries
to keep her balance.  A hatch opens from above
and a bucket of fish guts is thrown down to her.
"Heres your grub! Ya better leeearrn how to hold yer stomach!"
"Arrrr Harr Harrrr!" Marian eats squishy things again for days.
The ship docks and Marian is allowed to leave and explore.
Marian wanders aimlessly and finds friend.
She does not want to let her friend leave and
asks if The Holy Order of the Stars would accept Marian
into their order as a neutral cleric.  Marian knows she will need
help
from other clerics while doing her mariner duties overseas.
Marian hopes she will be accepted.

Author:    Marian         
Date:      Tue May 29 03:12:19 2007
Subject     Marian's Unexpected Surprise

Marian is resting at the Rusty Rudder Inn, a place she goes to
collect
her dwarven senses.  She looks through the rowdy patrons, and out
a foggy, steamed up window.  Although the day has just begun, the
heavens are
already darkened by a monolith of a storm.  From the north, there
comes
a heavy wind assault and from above, a relentless sheet of rain
that
chokes the damp ground and refuses to shift course.  Lightning
crashes down to
implode anything with a bit of substance.  In fact today she saw
the electrical
maiming of a kender and three ogres.  Marian chuckles politely,
happy to know
that most dwarves knew better than to venture out and risk
getting killed 
by an outdoor element.  

Marian tugs off her rain-drenched boots and throws them next to a
burning fire.
"Can I get you something to drink, Miss?", mutters the seasoned
bartender,
as he stratches his nether-regions contentedly.  "Yes, give me
your best dwarven
ale, the stuff you keep in the back please."  The bartender
raises his busy eyebrow
and grunts, "As ya wish, ma lady."  Marian takes in his reaction,
gazes down and
mildly chuckles.  The last time she drank of this strong spirit,
was shortly before
a long and unpleasant journey to some hell hole in the ground.

"Here ya go, will ya be takin some for the road again?", asks the
bartender, loudly
setting a glowing mug of ale before the weathered dwarf.  Marian
looks into the
bartender's bloodshot eyes and silently tells him, "Aye".  As he
turns to leave, she
magically transfers gold coin to one of his dirty pockets.  "Ha,
yer up to no good
again!  Keep yer hands where I can see em!", Marian snickers
softly and replies
"HaHa! That's right!  And don't worry all the money I owe is
there, plus a little more."

After the bartender leaves, Marian lifts a warm stein to her lips
and drinks long
until only froth remains.  Looking into the empty bottom of the
stein, she notices
a weird egg-like object.  Boggled by the concept, Marian slowly
turns the mug over
and sure enough, into her furry hand, plops a small breathing
egg!  Before she
can decide what to do next, the egg shoots from her hand and
latches firmly to
her underarm.  "Great, what mess did I get myself into now?!",
Marian mutters as
she grabs for her few belongings.  She quickly pulls on her wet
boots and treads
quietly out the front tavern door. 

Author:    Marian         
Date:      Wed Mar 12 19:08:57 2008
Subject     A decision to be made - the beast of burden

Marian is huddled beneath a granite ledge, trying to get 
quiet time from the storm.  The rain hadnt let up for 
days and the dwarf gazes right through  the clouds, caught 
in a soggy mental state. Raindrops hit her head in rhythm. 
A leap onto the forehead, a slide along the nose, a final dive
into the beard.  The feisty wind was playing tricks too, shaping 
the rain sideways and smacking it straight into her face.

"Rain Rain Rain! 
All it ever does is Rain!  
What to dooo? What to dooo?!  
Tis a delay I CANNOT afford!

Marian deftly wrings the rain out of her beard.  Her gaze moves 
up to the mysterious beast of burden.  The heavy, writhing egg 
hovers just above her head, held firmly in place by the floating
disc.

"Ive just GOT to find somebody who knows more about ya!
Ya burden of an egg!
No matter HOW hard I try to remove ya
OR HOW fast I trot away 
I just cant be rid of ya! 
And the time I tried to throw ya off that cliff
Ah well...let's just say I'm sorry.
I dont want anymore of that plague ya gave me either 
But now I cant proceed with any booty exploration!
You sure aint getting any lighter, mind ya!  
How Oh How did I manage to become an unwilling host to ya?!
Ya shelled and devilled egg!" 

A faint snickering sound begins to emanate from the egg. 
With her back nestled tight against a muddy wall, 
Marian remembers back to the day they first met.
It all seemed such a blur now the Rusty Rudder Inn, the grubby 
bartender she called a friend, the glowing mug of ale

Did anyone see the egg drop into her hand?  Or if they hadnt seen
that, 
Did they see it latch onto her for shelter?  She certainly didnt
want any
of her acquaintances to think that magic had gotten the best of
her.
It was pretty well known that Marian possessed the magic skill,
but also 
known that magic could backfire at will. 

Marian couldnt seek guidance from just anyone on this thorny
subject.  
Pride filled the dwarfs entire being and it wasnt in her nature
to let 
family or friends down.  She had to quickly figure a very
ingenious 
way, out of this egg of a mess.  There was no way she was going
to 
closely cohabitate with an egg!  

Well a unitary decision was begrudgingly made.  Marian would
travel 
to every mages guild to find that traveling wizard.  That one she
had met 
so many years ago, and the same her parents had said for her to
stay 
away from.  But Marian had a feeling, down in the belly deep,
that HE 
would be the one to trust, with her secret keep.  So she would
leave early 
the next dawn, rain or shine, filled with a very intense desire
for separation.    

The Storytellers of Ansalon, The DragonLance MUD

Astinus points to the massive wall of books behind him and bids you to make a selection.

Authors: All|A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z
Astinus sighs as he recants 'We saved 890 books from Ansalon from before the great Cataclysm through today.'